Posts about
Internet

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted yesterday to support a series of rules that we more commonly reference as “Net Neutrality.” These rules will reclassify broadband Internet access as a Title II telecommunications service, subjecting them to regulation similar to that of a utility or common carrier. The concern driving Net Neutrality has focused on consumer broadband access and networks, highlighting such notions as blocking of internet sites and throttling of traffic such as BitTorrent. However, some of the associated headlines really have nothing to do with the access part of the network. Instead, they are related to network interconnects, which are the lurking issue under much of what we call Net Neutrality...

It was a late summer's afternoon in San Francisco and I'd just finished a long day of talking technology at Dreamforce 12 when I was introduced to the term the 'Industrial Internet.' I was listening to guys from GE discuss how they were connecting their jet engines to Chatter. How they were using this social media tool to monitor, test and maintain millions of dollars of engineering investment. How they were embedding their technology with Internet devices that ensured direct communication.

Last week, an interesting study was published by Musictank, entitled “The Dark Side of the Tune: The Hidden Energy cost of Digital Music Consumption”. The report examines the environmental impact from an energy efficiency and carbon foot-print view, of the current shifts in content consumption from an “ownership of physical product” towards “access via cloud-based content services”.

Over the past few weeks I've found myself re-engaging with TV. This isn’t because the programming has suddenly improved or because I’ve started subscribing to ESPN. It’s largely because of Zeebox. This is an iPad app that adds social integration to the viewing experience. Basically it’s a TV guide where you select a programme and see conversations around this programme from your Twitter and Facebook communities.

Recent political upheaval in Tunisia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries has once again brought into sharp focus the role the Internet plays as a means of communication. Whether as a tool to report events to the outside world or as a weapon of government-sponsored propaganda, the Internet is now a critical element of any political action. Yet while some commentators are quick to claim the success of so-called ‘Twitter revolutions’ others are starting to question the Internet’s independence.